Method of treating canned foods



0. H. HANSEN.

`METHOD 0F TREATING CANNED FOODS. APPLlcArloN FILED Nov. 9. 191s.

1,391,953, PatenbedSept. 27, 1921.

Il lll/lE BYW AT1-:VR N EY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSWALCD H. HANSEN, OF PORT WASHINGTON, wIscONsIN, lissIGNOn Vor ONE-HALF To THE WISCONSIN CHAIR. COMPANY, or rOaT WASHINGTON, WISCONSIN,

METHOD or TREATING CANNED FOODS. f

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept 27, 1921.

Application led November 9, 1918. Serial No. 261,791.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that OsWALD H. HANSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Port Washington, in the county of Ozaukee and State of Wisconsin, has invented a certain newand useful Method of Treating Canned Foods, of which the followingvis a specification.

This invention relates in general to an improvedmethod of treating packed fluent substances, and relates specifically to an im proved method of cooking, sterilizing, cooling or otherwise treating fluent foods'packed in containers such as metal, glass or other receptacles.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and eiicient method of treating packed fluent substances.

It is common practice in the canning in-- dustry, to treat fluent foods by first' cooklngor sterilizing the same by the application of steam or other heating agency, and by subsequently cooling the substance. The material is ordinarily-thus treated after it' has been packed in air-tight containers such as cylindrical metal cans, which cans are only partially filled with the substance. 4The prior art abounds'in devices for carrying on these treating operations. In all ofthedevices of the prior.' art which have attained any degree of commercial success, the suocessive cans are rotated about their `longitudinal central axes while horizontally dlsposed, and are simultaneously urged along either an annular, a helical, a spiral or a rectilineal path during the treating'operation. It has been found that during rota' tion of the cans about their. horizontal axesv and regardless of` the direction of transpprtation through the treating chamber, a zone of quiescence is formed adjacent the center of the mass of substance packed in each container, thereby preventing uniform treatment of the material.

The present invention contemplates elimination of this defect in the prior methods of `and apparatus for treating such substances.

The prior defective treatment is remedied with the present invention by agitating the iuent contents of each can during its treatment, in order to produce uniform treatment of all portions of the mass. This improved result is accomplished by rotating the cans about axes which are inclined relatively to the horizontal, such rotation being' effected simultaneously with the transportatlon of the cans through the treating zone. The method of and apparatus for accomplishlng the desired agitation, as well as other novel features and advantages, will be apparent from the following description. The term food as employedherein is intended to include any substance containing food value of any kind. The term fiuent includes any materialV capable of flowing, whether it be a liquid, a mixture of h quid and granular material,`or finely divided granular material alone. It is moreover not desired to limit the scope of the mvention by specifically describing it as a lied to or associating the same with t e industry of packing vegetables in metal contalners, as the principles and features of the invention are capable of more general application. A clear conception of the various steps of the process and of several embodiments of apparatus for exploiting the same, may be had by referring to the'drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designateJ the same or similar parts in the vari ous views.

Figure 1 -is a fragmentary part sectional side elevation of a cooking or sterilizing device for treating substances Packed in cylindrical receptacles.

Fig. 2 is a part sectional end View of thel cooking or sterilizing apparatus, looking toward the receptacle admission end, the section bein taken along the line II--II of Fig. 1 loo 'ng inthe direction of the arrow.

ig. 3 is a fragmentary part sectional end view of the cooking or ster1lizing apparatus, looking toward the receptacle discharging end, the section being taken along the line` III-III of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional side view of another form of cooking or sterilizing device for treatinv substances packed in cylindrical receptac es.

Fig. 5 is a central vertical section through a cylindrical can having its axis horizontally disposed, showing one position of the mass of substance when the can is being treated in a device of ordinary construction.

Fi 6 is a central vertical section through a cy indrical can having .its axis inclined relatively to the horizontal., showing onevpochamber provided with the usual instrulau .,trated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, comprises in general a main housing or casing 1 forming'a mentalities for heating the interior thereof, a helical can guide 7 stationarily supported within the casing 1, and a main can revolving reel or rotor consisting of amain shaft 2 and an angular series of parallel angle bars 6 associated with said shaft and centrally rotatably supported within the helical guide 7 and kthe casing 1. The casing 1 vmay e of any suitable form or structure and is provided with can inlet and discharge chutes O, 21 respectivel located adjacent the opposite casin en s. The uide 7 comprises a helical T- ar stationari y supportedwith the helix axis inclined relatively to a horizontal planeby means of end s iders and longitudinal retaining lates 8. he proper inclination of the helical guide 7 is produced by means of an end support 9 which may be made of a vertical height necessary to produce the desired degree of inclination of the helix axis. The can revolving rotor is rotatably supported in end supports or bearings 3 formed in the guide spiders, and has its angle bars 6 drivingly connected to the shaft 2 'by means of' rotary end spiders 4. The bars 6 are held in roper spaced re1ation relatively to each ot er, by means of the end spiders 4 and intermediate supporting rings 5. The outwardly projecting flanges of the angle bars 6 form flights adapted to coact with the cylindrical sidewalls of the cans 16 in order to roll the cans along the cross member of the helical T-bar guide 7, While the inwardly extending flange of the T-bar is adapted to coact with plane can ends in order to confine the cans tor a helical path of travel.

The cans 16 are fed into thecasing 1 and in proximity to the revolving main rotor and helical guide 7, by means `of the can inlet chute 10. The revolving main rotor is rotated by means of power applied to the pulley 12 associated with one end of a drive shaft 13, to the other end of which is connected a worm 14 which meshes with a worm wheel 15 secured to an end ofthe main shaft 2. The worm gearing is inclosed in a suitable housing for protection, see Fig. 2. The cans 16 are delivered from the casing 1 and into the discharge chute 21, by means of a discharge rotor 11 comprising a counter shaft 19, a rotor element 28 secured to the shaft 19, and a series vof spacedparallel angle bars 18 secured to the element 28. The shaft 19 is rotatably supported in suitable bearings in the casing 1, with its axis parallel to the axis of the shaft 2, and is drivingly connected to the shaft 2 by means of spurv gears 22, 23. The can discharge rotor 11 1s housed in a stationary casing 17 and is adapted to urge the cans 16 along a delivery guide 20 connecting the delivery endof the helical guide 7 with the delivery chute 21, see Fig. 3. A

The -cooking or sterilizing device illustrated in Fig. 4, comprises in general amain housing or casing such as shown -in Fig. 1, a helical-spiral can guide 7 stationarily supported within the casing, and a can revolving reel or rotor consisting of a main shaft 2 and an annular series of angle bars 6 asso` ciated with the shaft and rotatably sup orted within thev guide 7. The guide 7 o this embodiment comprises al helical-spiral T-bar stationarily supported with its axis horizontally disposed, by means .ofend -s iders and longitudinal retaining lates 8.. he can revolving rotor is rotata ly supported in end bearings with its axis horizontally disposed. The angle bars 6 are held in proper spaced relation relatively to each other and in proximity to the guide 7, by means of end spiders and intermediate supporting rings 5. The bars '6 of this embodiment are not parallel but `are inclined relatively to the axis of the main shaft 2. The outwardly projecting flanges of the angle bars 6 form flights adapted to coact with the cylindrical side walls of the cans 16 in order to roll the cans alon the cross member of the helicalspiral T- ar guide 7 while the inwardly extending llange of the T-bar is adapted to coact with the plane can ends in order to confine the cans t0 a helical path of travel.

During the normal operation of the device as a cookinqapparatus, the chamber piovided bv the casing 1, is heated/by means of steam, hot water or other heating agency. The main can revolving rotorand the discharge rotor 11 are simultaneously rotated in the directions indicated by thearrows in Figs. 2 and 3, by means of power applied at the pulley 12; he successive cans 16 are fed to the revolving rotor and into the ga s between successive bars 6, by meansof t e inlet chute 10. The outwardly projecting flanges of the bars 6\coact with the cylindr cal side walls of the successive cans 16 roll- 115 ing these cans about their own axes which areinclined relatively to a horizontal plane, and simultaneously revolving the rotating cans 16 aboutI the axis of the shaft 2. The rotating revolving cans 16 are urged for- 120 'wardly through the heating chamber byV means ofthe helical ide 7, and are eventually successively delgiilfered from the apparatus by means of the discharge rotor 11 whichremoves the treated cans 16 from the 125 periphery of the can revolvin rotor and delivers them to the discharge c ute 21.

The manner, in which the mass of substance or material in each' can 16 is moderatelybut thoroughly agitated and brought leonesa into contact with the outer Wall of the receptacle in order to produce eicient heat transfer, may be best perceived by referring to Figs. 5 and (i.

ln the case of Fig. 5, the cylindrical can 16 has its longitudinal axis 27 horizontally disposed. The upper space 25 which is not lilled by materialo, extends along the entire length ort the can 16 and has a uniform segment-shape transverse cross section. A s the can 16 of Fig.- 5 is rotated relatively slowly about the horizontal axis 27, a practically cylindrical zone or core of quiescent material, is formed adjacent the axis 2'?, the position ol this core relatively to the remainder of the mass remaining substantially lined, thus avoiding eiective heating or cooling as the case may be, of the material constitutin this core, due to the surrounding layer o' moving material which serves as an insulating `iaclret. rlhis gure illustrates the position of the cans 16 and the results attained with the cooking, sterilizing or cooling devices oi the prior art.

ln the case of Fig. l6,*the cylindrical can lo has its longitudinal axis 27 inclined or transversely disposed relatively to the horirental.. ln this case the space Q5 is contlned y vtothe upper corner of the interior of the can lo only, and has a transverse cross section of varyingv area. When a can lo thus disposed, is rotated relatively slowly about its inclined axis 27, no deinite core or zone of quiescence will form in the center ot the n mass oit material, but instead, the mass will be moderately agitated and thoroughly' mixed to bring all portions thereof in proxto the can wall. lnthis manner unmiorm treatment or all portions of themass is assured, thereby increasing to a maximum the capacity or' the apparatus and ed'ecting mosteiiicient treatment. 1

ln either "of the cases illustrated, the receptable or can i6 must'not be rotated about its own axis 27 at a speed which will overcome the eects of gravity,'and which will result in the production of a central -core or air chamber. While centrifugal force is instrumental in producing both the undesirable result of the prior art and the desirable 'result of the present invention, the latter result is primarily due to the inclination of the can axis 27.

ln the embodiment of Figs.' 1, 2 'and 3, the can axes always assume parallel positions,

while in the embodiment of Fig. Il, the ini-l l clination of the individual axes is constantly changing. It will be obvious that the desirable objects of this invention maybe attained with any of the standard cooking and cooling machines now in commercial use, by merely tilting the machine bodily to cause the cans lo therein to assume the tilted positions during treatment. The invention is not coniined to heat treatment of the packed substance,but is equally applicable for edecting treatment by cooling. The effectiveness of the heat transfer may be varied by changing the degree of inclination of the can axes, and the results produced by but a slight inclination have been exceedingly meritorious, although a substantial inclination is probably more desirable as the ratel of heat transl-er is thereby enhanced.

lt should be understood that it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact steps oi the process herein specifically disclosed., for various modiications within the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

lit is claimed and desired to secure by Let- 2. rlhe methodoit sterlizing lood, which comprises, sealing batches or the lood' in containers, advancing the food laden containers endvvise throu h a zone 'of dry heat,

and rotating the containers about their longitudinal axes while maintaining 'these .axes inclined at a constant angle relatively to la horizontal plane throughout the entire heating operation. i f I 3. The method or vsterilizing food, which 'ica comprises, hermetically sealing batches of the 'food in cylindrical vmetallic containers, gradually advancing the rood laden con? tainers endvvise through a zone of uniform dry heat, and rotating the containersabout their longitudinal axes `While n1aintainingv 'these axes inclined in the direction of advancement and at a constant anglerelatively to a horizontal plane throughout the entire y heating operation. A

. In testimony whereof, the signature ofthe inventor is aliixedhereto. g.

oswALD, H. Hausnr. 

